Best new flooring for this rental - Chicago area

[Ryan Rubel]

My rental SFH is going to need the carpet replaced after the current tenants leave April 1st. This is a 1250 sqft. SFH in the Schaumburg area near Chicago with a slab. What's the best looking, durable, affordable, and available flooring?

I've seen in other posts that people use laminate from Home Depot - is this recommended?  

Other questions:

1) What do I need to be aware of when putting laminate on slab?

2) There will be about 1000sqft required.. is it reasonable to think a contractor can do this in a week, including carpet removal/disposal?

3) How much should I expect to pay for labor?

Thanks,

Ryan

Keywords: Chicago, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Hanover Park, Elgin, Streamwood Bartlett Cook County

[Aaron Mazzrillo]

I used to use that fake wood flooring crap. Waste of money. It warps, chips, and doesn't last very long. Only way to fix it is to rip up big sections to get to the chipped parts. I switched to a neutral ceramic tile. After the first tenant moved in, the grout looked disgusting. I now do that fake wood ceramic tile with dark grout. Above is a recent one I did. I don't think it is very expensive and it just looks excellent. Tenants love it. They can put down their own throw rugs that they'll never wash and get all disgusting. If one of them cracks, we can just bust out that piece of tile and replace it.